How to record room tone

mrpink89 · Mar 18, 2015

I have a new film project coming up and don't want to make the same mistake I did last time by not recording room tone (noob)

Anyways, now that I am aware of it my question is. How do you go about this as in. Where do I place my mic? do i place it in differnt spots of the room to capture different areas?

My audio gear is:
Marantz PMD 661
Rode NTG2

Thank you.

ILikef11 · Mar 18, 2015

I'm a camera guy, not a sound guy, but generally you just want it in the same placement as it was when you were shooting the scene and at the same audio level.

AudioPostExpert · Mar 18, 2015

The advice of ILikeF11 is essentially correct. You ideally want to record RT with the mic in the exact same position, with everyone and everything in the room in the exact same position and recorded at exactly the same time! Obviously, the last one is impossible, so recording RT immediately before you shout "action" or immediately after you shout "cut" is the next best option, making sure no one moves or makes any noise while recording RT.

However (!), the NTG2 is a noisy and low output mic. This means that the noise floor of your recording chain could be close to the level of the room tone itself, in which case, you can probably be a little more cavalier with the "rules" above.

G

mrpink89 · Mar 19, 2015

Thanks guys

Ozthedirector · Mar 19, 2015

Room tone-Indy Mogul

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xMMQkaD3_w that helped me-its by indy mogul.

mrpink89 · Mar 19, 2015

Ahh yes BXF. Good stuff. I learned some good tricks from them. Thanks

Alcove Audio · Mar 20, 2015

My personal "trick" was to call for quiet and - as a good PSM/Boom-Op should - actually listen. Once I was sure it was quiet I counted five and then called "sound speed." That way there's at least five seconds with each take you can use to piece something together in audio post when you get the inevitable "we don't have time; we're behind" when you ask to do room tones.

mrpink89 · Mar 24, 2015